‘What Must I Do?’

I hate to admit it, but when I was in college my roommate and I mostly worked to just “get by” in our studies. There were plenty of others in the same boat, of course, usually asking the professors, on first day of classes, such self-incriminating questions as: Do you take attendance? How many classes can I miss? And then during the class term, the ubiquitous: Is this gonna be on the final?

The rich young man in today’s Gospel also just wanted to get a passing grade. And Jesus pretty well told him that he’d have to do a lot more than “show up” in order to live the genuine life of a Christian. He might have to really learn something—and then live it! That would be on the “final.”

Prayer: God, You created us for more than merely existing. Help us to do Your bidding.

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